Solvent-borne alkyd coating compositions are widely used in wood coating applications, for example to coat kitchen cabinetry and other wooden furnishings. These coating compositions are mainly based on alkyd formulations catalyzed with acids and crosslinked with alkylated amino resins (e.g., alkylated melamine or alkylated urea resins). Current commercially available alkyd coating compositions generally provide acceptable results when one or more coats are applied on face grain surfaces (see e.g., the FIG. 1 photograph of a face grain portion of an uncoated alder wood panel) or on end grain surfaces of tight-grained woods such as hard maple, oak and hickory. However, when coating the exposed end grain portions of low density or porous woods such as alder, birch, pine, poplar, and soft maple (see e.g., the FIG. 2 photograph of an end grain portion of an uncoated alder wood panel), conventional alkyd coatings may exhibit excessive soak-in, striking, or roughness, and may require one or more and often two or more extra coats (beyond the one or two coats normally employed on face grain surfaces) in order to obtain a finished end grain surface with an acceptable finish and appearance. The extra coats increase the overall finish cost and required manufacturing time, and may reduce factory throughput.